Ravenous hunger in the afternoon

trishgarri

Every afternoon I go absolutely nuts! I am starving from the time school lets out until I go to bed. If I'm not careful, I will eat and eat and eat until I'm miserable. I've tried fruit, cheese and yogurt as an afterschool snack without luck so far. What do you do?

megpapier

Are you actually starving or just can't help but eat? Sometimes we eat for other reasons than being actually hungry. If you are hungry do you eat meals throughout the day at all?

UponThisRock

I eat a large meal and don't bother with snacks

MidwestGirlz

Are you getting enough calories in during the earlier part of your day? I know if I don't have at least 600 calories in by 3pm I am ravenous, too. I manage it with high protein / veggies and fruits during the earlier part of the day.

psuLemon

How many calories are you eating? Also try an 8oz glass if water and walk away for 10 mins. If you ars still hungry you need to eat. Its your body saying feed me.

DizzieLittleLifter

What would I do? I'd fill up on a big bowl of veggies. If you fill up on veggies you won't have room to eat junk. Try raw unsalted almonds with a big spinach salad packed with carrots, bell peppers and some fat free feta. (try not to use dressings, use an acid like lemon or vinegar and a little oil). also make sure you are getting adequate calories in the earlier part of the day.

seehawkmomma

I'm like Rock I like to eat meals to prevent snacking. If i have the right meal I dont NEED to snack and can just eat three meals. I would try Green tea and try drinking one full glass of water to see if you are still hungry.

pital74

Popcorn (air-popped w/ spray butter) is my go to snack, when all I want to do is eat. High volume/Low cal

trishgarri

I eat breakfast (egg or cottage cheese and fruit) and lunch (salad & chicken or tuna, grapes), and will usually snack on an apple or nuts mid morning. I am actually hungry- my stomach growls. Nights like tonight I'll go ahead and eat supper at 4:30, but that means DH eats by himself.:ohwell:

bcattoes

I eat pretty light through the day so I can have a really big dinner. I know a lot of people on this site swear by a huge breakfast and/or not eating at night, but night is when I'm hungry.

sisierra

Eat larger breakfasts and make sure you drink lots of water! a lot of times if your body needs water your head processes it as hunger. if neither of these are the issue, try snacking on beef jerky or fiber one 90cal bars, both are delcious and make you feel full. but my jnumber one suggestion is the water

Starlage

1 ounce of nuts is can be part of a healthy diet as long as you don' go crazy and eat more. I find that an ounce of pistachios (unshelled, about 45 is in an ounce!) helps me. I can munch on them between meals. Almonds is a great alternative too but you don't get as many in an ounce. Have higher protein low fat snacks like greek yogurt. Some people (me included) can't go off of three meals a day, i HAVE to snack mid morning and mid afternoon!

ProudMomoftwo

I always have had a snack attack around 2-3pm.
I have found slicing up a delicious apple and dipping the slices in a tablespoon of natural peanut butter curbs my attack and doesn't destroy all my efforts.
The apple is healthy.
The pb is healthy and natural and packed with protein.
I find I have no problems afterward...its sweet...its crunchy...its satisfying...
Its the best!
Make sure you are getting in plenty of water everyday too...that really helps too.

sarahgilmore

The middle of the day might be your hungry-time.

It is for me.

Try allowing yourself to eat slightly more in the afternoon (i.e. change your goals up a bit) and a smaller dinner. That worked for me. For me trying to eat less in the afternoons just led to massive blowouts. Now I allow for a 4-500 cal snack like a sandwich or something when I get home at 3, and I'm consuming less overall than I was.

_John

Interesting to see lots of people saying to avoid snacks. For me what works is grazing on something before I get too hungry. I eat dried fruit and nuts which I mix up into little mixed packs of about 120cals. That'll stop me getting hungry for a few hours.

woou

Snacking actually doesn't work for me either. They just make me more hungry unfortunately. Eating a whole pot of veggies also did not help me. Seriously, I could eat a whole bunch of greens and still be hungry. What worked for me was finding a multivit that worked for me. I guess I was missing some micronutrients that my diet was just not meeting. I really wish I was open to multivits, when I was younger.

CoraGregoryCPA

I'd recommend drinking lots of water throughout the day and when you get home. If you make it a habit now, then life will just be a little easier as you get older. However, it does bring on a challenge when you really gotta pee during class.

From my experience, if I'm hungry more likely than not I'm just deydrated. I even drink 10-12 glasses of water a day. I need water!

trishgarri

Thanks all. I already drink 2-3 quarts of water a day, so I don't think hydration is the issue. I do think I will try a higher calorie lunch and a more substantial snack after school. I haven't thought about eating a sandwich after school-I'll give that a try.

SheRa1964

Maybe you should have something more substantial in the morning like oatmeal? Just a thought.

trishgarri

Problem with oatmeal is that many carbs just makes me sleepy.

psuLemon

How many calories do you eat?